The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is digging out from a winter snowstorm for the record books, and that means an unusually heavy load to lift for all those out with their shovels today.
While many people go charging, shovels in hand, into full attack mode when they open their garage doors to peer out at dunes of snow, health experts say it’s worth taking a beat and remembering a few key pointers for staying safe.
More work than you realize
“I think what people need to understand is that when you’re shovelling snow, it’s a real strenuous, physical activity, and it can have a lot of extra workload on the heart,” Dr. Allan Grill, Chief of Family Medicine at Markham Stouffville Hospital, told CP24.
“First of all, you’re using a lot of different muscles. You’re using your arms, your legs, your back. Secondly, when it’s cold outside, your blood vessels tend to constrict. They want to maintain the core body temperature, to keep you warm.”
Constricted blood vessels can restrict the amount of oxygen-rich blood getting to the heart and can be especially problematic for those with heart disease, Grill points out.
“So if they narrow even more when it gets cold outside, that also increases the stress on the heart,” he says.
Cold weather also increases blood pressure, making the heart work even harder to keep the body going during strenuous activity like shovelling snow, he adds.
Especially when there’s lots of snow to clear, it’s easy to do far more heavy work than you realize you’re doing in a short amount of time.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) points out that if you load a shovel (weighing over 1 kg) with 5 kg of snow every five seconds, you will move a load of over 70 kg in one minute. Doing that for 15 minutes without a break means you will have shovelled around 1,000 kg of snow (around 2,200 pounds).
“Such effort is obviously not for everyone. This effort is hard on the heart and back,” the organization states on its website.
Who’s at higher risk?
Grill says everyone should keep safety in mind when heading out to shovel. But some people should especially take safety tips to heart and perhaps consult with their doctor to make sure their health conditions don’t rule out shovelling as an activity.
Grill says that includes people with diabetes, known heart disease, high blood pressure, anybody over 50 who doesn’t usually exercise, and people who smoke regularly.
“Those people should be talking to their family physicians or primary care providers before they engage in this activity to make sure it’s safe,” Grill says. “You want to make sure that you don’t put yourself at increased risk, especially as we get more and more snow in the wintertime.”
How to make shovelling safer
Ther are several things people can do to stay safe while shovelling. These include:
- Stretching and warming up, as you would ahead of other physical activity. This can include simple activity like walking on the spot for 10-15 minutes
- Dress in warm layers to keep the body warm so there is less stress on the heart
- Using the right shovel can be important. Use a smaller, lighter shovel so that you are lifting lighter loads. Among other snow shovel tips, CCOHS says the handle should reach the chest to reduce the amount of forward bending. Shovels with a bend in the shaft may also be easier on the lower back when used correctly
- Lift smaller loads. “The heavier snow that you’re that you’re moving, the more stress it is on your heart,” Grill says. The Ontario Chiropractic Association similarly advises people should “lift light to shovel right” and avoid painful injuries from lifting.
- Push instead of lift where possible. If you do have to lift, lift smaller amounts over a longer period of time.
- Good shovelling form includes lifting with your legs instead of your back, turning your feet to the direction you’re throwing instead of twisting, don’t throw snow over your shoulder or to your side
- Take frequent breaks, shovelling in shifts. “I would only do this (shovel) for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time,” Grill says. “Go inside, warm up, stay hydrated. This is the same advice we give for other exercise, so that your body is ready when you go back out to do more shovelling.”
